Archive for the ‘sell art’ Category
How to Price Your Art to Sell
June 5th, 2010 | 
Author: As artists we like to focus on the making of art, not so much the selling of it, right? But in order to continue making our art and doing what we love, we need to be able to sell it. So the number one question artists will always ask is… “How do I price my art?”
Well, that is a very complicated question, but a simple answer is… “It depends”.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to pricing your art. What you will be able to sell you art for depends on a multitude of variables, such as your ability as an artist, the marketability (or demand) of your type of work, how well established you are and so on. Now, if you’re a new artist just starting out or if you’ve been creating art for a while and you’re looking to start selling it, there’s no need to fret! There are strategies and pricing structures that you can put in place to build a customer base and thus increase the value of your work.
We would all like to start out selling our pieces for several hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But the simple truth is that without demand or even knowledge of your work or yourself as an artist, it simply isn’t going to happen! However, as a new artist to the marketplace you have the unique opportunity to establish buyers who can grow with you, perhaps into avid collectors of your artwork. And the simple fact of the marketplace is that collectors mean demand and demand means increased sales as well as heightened prices for your work. But before we get too carried away, let’s take a step back and look at how we can price our art to get to this point.
As an entry-level artist, you need to look to sell to entry-level buyers, which will inevitably mean entry-level prices. And again, these prices can depend on the particular market you’re looking to sell to and the type of work you are trying to sell. You’ll need to do some research. Find some similar artists in your area or similar pieces for sale – what is the common price point? It may be very low, $20-$40 dollars or it might be quite promising, $50-$100. Either way, you need to find a reasonable price point to start with. If you find your works sell quickly, you could even consider raising your average price point.
Once you’ve sold your first few paintings, you should be starting to create a customer base. This doesn’t necessarily need to only include people who have purchased your work, you may have come across people who are genuinely interested in your work that you could include in your customer base to market to in the future. The idea here is not so much focusing on selling your artwork right now, but establishing ways in which you can continue you to sell your art.
So, make sure you align your pricing with the current marketplace you’re trying to sell to. You don’t need to continue selling at the initial price points you establish, remember that as your customer base increases, so too can your average price point.
It’s important to keep in mind that pricing of art is only one minor component to successfully selling your artwork. In order to be able to create and sell your art time and time again you need gain a complete understanding of how to market your work. Here’s a great course that can show you how: The Thriving Artist Review
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How To Sell Your Art Online
Online Gallery Question Checklist to Sell Your Art Online
When looking for an online art gallery it is a good idea to have some kind of question checklist. Here are some questions you might consider. How much will the gallery cost to run? Is there a commission I have to pay on my art sold? Will I get enough traffic and how much art can I display? Will I be given my own personal art website and biography page? Is it difficult to set up? Can I check my client traffic statistics. Is there a free trial period so I can see if I like the system? Let’s look at some tips for selling your art online.
5 Tips – How to Sell Your Art Online
1. Presentation – Present your art in the most professional way possible. Ideally, showcase your art in an online gallery.
2. Traffic – Even if you have the most beautiful art in the world in your gallery, you will have little success selling your work unless people know where you are. Market your art through free ads, paid ads if you like, pay-per-click ads, blogs, forums and articles. Write “how to” articles about art, which is a great way to generate traffic to your site. Also, have business cards made up and distribute them in as many ways possible.
3. Critiques – Ouch! – If you’re way too sensitive and thinned skinned, get over it. Criticism is one of your best money-making friends. Why? Because you want to find out what people like and don’t like about your art so you can fix it and make your art more salable. Go out of your way to get criticism of your art by asking friends, strangers (safe strangers!), forum groups, art teachers, art professors and even art appraisers if you want to spend the money.
Leonardo da Vinci asked for criticism from a man off the street. He asked the man what he thought of his “Last Supper” painting, which was not yet finished. The man said he really liked the chalice cup. I believe Leonardo readily removed the chalice from the painting because it was not supposed to be the focus of the work. Leonardo was wise enough to appreciate and receive objective criticism which helped finish his masterpiece.
4. Constant Improvement – Creating your art should be a constant learning process, ever improving because the more knowledge you have of the laws and rules of art the better your painting skills, hence greater financial return on your art. To what is needed to improve your artistic eye and skills. Look at great art and try to see why their colors, their lights and darks, shapes and compositions work so well. Take an art class. Read art “how to” books. Grow in your knowledge of what makes great art.
5. Pricing – Too High, Too Low – Check out your competition, art similar to your own work. What are their prices? Get opinions from people about your art pricing. Remember, be thick-skinned for they are only helping you decide on the correct pricing for your art. Test your pricing. If it sells too quickly (how wonderful!), perhaps you could raise the price. If it is not selling, then your pricing is probably too high. Test, test, test. Oh, you might consider having prints made of your originals because it would give you a whole new extra pricing market. Some people would rather pay for a print than to pay more for an original.
So, hopefully the art gallery question checklist and the tips for selling art online will help you get your art selling. Enjoy your divine gift, the unique ability to express yourself through art.
Do you want to check out an online art gallery I have used and recommend?
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Art Investment- Good or Bad!
You are an admirer of fine arts. Do you collect handicraft, paintings or sculptures or any other artworks just to get an undefined satisfaction or as an investment too? Well, art as an investment has become popular in the recent past. However, there are supporters as well as opponents of the trend who give arguments for and against investing in art.
What’s good in Art Investment
Uncertain stock market returns, interest rates at their lowest in decades, and shaky property market has lead people to find alternative investment options- investing in art is one of them. The rise in demand and consequently in prices, is definitely a good news for people who collect art. Although there’s no certainty that prices will continue to rise, at least art will give pleasure and an emotional dividend by giving the chance to call oneself a collector. From 1875 to 2000, art has outplayed fixed income, but has been defeated by equities. However, in the past 2 years or so, in the wake of stock market losses, art has surpassed equities. Reports say that global art market avoids crash, even in times of economic downturn.
Why Art Investment is Bad
Art market is illiquid. Buying and selling art works is not so easy as the trade shares. Art market is also non-transparent and unregulated. The history of ownership and condition of a piece has to be checked before investing money. Art goes in and out of fashion and the prices may move up and down very quickly. If selling art, one has to pay many taxes. Critics argue that art can’t be considered as financial asset as it disregards traditional benchmarks of financial analysis. Price determination is at the mercy of erratic public taste that follows no financial logic. Works of art don’t generate any income though they lead to storage and associated costs. In short-term, market volatility is relatively high when compared with other classes of asset.
How to do Wise Art Investment
Art investment is risky only if the investment period is too short. Long-term investment, say for 10 years and more, gives good annual average returns. The only prerequisite is to invest in high quality art. It’s better to deal with reputable galleries or dealers and invest in something you like & won’t mind keeping it for a few years, rather than something you don’t like but just want as an investment. If you are a novice collector, gather knowledge and train your eyes by visiting art fairs, galleries and preferably, student shows. Get lots of information from Internet. If that doesn’t suffice, hire independent art advisers for selecting and managing a collection. Some of them work at private banks. Galleries too offer advisory service as a sideline to their main business. If you sell some art works, consult tax advisors about how to save on it. If a couple buys the work, its good to invest in the name of the person in the lower tax bracket. Generate income from artworks by lending them to galleries. UK-based Fine Art Management Services launched Fine Art Fund, a private equity-backed venture aimed at pension funds and university endowments. It hopes to raise $350 inn, locked in for 10 years, to invest in a portfolio of top-quality art. The fund managers are banking on those investors who have seen some of their biggest holdings go down as the value of a quality arts will never go down to zero. Fine Art Fund also plans to solve the problem of lack of dividend income in this type of investment by renting out its art. This can be taken advantage of by wealthy private investors.
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Art Networking on Creative Brush. Artists and Art Buyers Network by Connecting Each Other
ARTIST â?? ART BUYER’S NETWORK BY CONNECTING EACH OTHERâ?¦.
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Creative-Brush is a place where artist and buyers build their network to connect with each others, with fans, expose artists their talents. We help artist to promote there art work and make more money from there art works. Buyers can negotiate for original art works with affordable cost. Our aim is to expose artists and there artworks globally and to give Social networking opportunities to Artists as well as Art Buyers. Get it totally free!
Benefits of an Artists
* Create an online profile – tell others about yourself and your talent. Upload Your Art Work.
* You do not need to build your own web site â?? Creative brush is a place where you can show your artwork. Artwork is visible to all in through our online galleries.
* By becoming a member of Creative-Brush.com, you will connect with Buyers and Collectors directly.
* Through our Creative Brush network market your art to the world â?? not just your local customers.
* Build a portfolio and promote yourself as a Genuine artist selling work on the Internet.
* Make new contacts & sell your creative artworks.
* Post your events (solo exhibition, workshop, seminar .etc.)
* Post and respond to blogs – ask questions or discuss about art related topics.
* Marketplace listing.
* There are no fees to join our site to build network.
Benefits of Art Buyers
*Â Create an online profile – tell others about yourself and Market your business.
* Advertise your services worldwide through our market place.
* Become a member of Creative brush you find various artist and their artwork.
* With the help of our site thousands of talented, unknown, emerging Artists can now sell art directly to smart buyers around. Buyers can shop from the comfort of their home or office and decide to purchase art in a arrange manners at their own place.
* Buy artwork for actual price and best quality.
* Meet various artist around the world and find large collection of artwork.
* Meet events. Post your events.
* Post and respond to blogs – ask questions or discuss about art related topics.
* Create your network and send unlimited message.
* Display your unique and rare art collection
Becoming a member of creative-brush.com It is easy and FREE!
ARTIST- Join Now: http://www.creative-brush.com/artist_register.php
ART BUYERS- Join Now:Â http://www.creative-brush.com/buyer_register.php
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How to Sell Your Jewelry Through Art Galleries
One way to sell your higher-priced, one-of-a-kind jewelry is through art galleries.
Customers who shop at galleries expect to pay higher prices, and they’re looking for unusual handcrafted pieces that can’t be found anywhere else. Gallery owners and staff are experienced at selling art to this type of clientele, and they are always in search of new, high-quality handcrafts.
The Best Galleries for Your Jewelry
Many galleries specialize in a particular art niche. If you find one that specializes in a theme, material, or era that characterizes your jewelry, it could be the beginning of a successful business relationship for you.
For example, if you make dichroic glass bead jewelry, seek out some galleries that focus on glass art.
And be sure to get a good idea of the gallery’s personality – a conservative, traditional atmosphere would be a good bet for Victorian-theme jewelry, but not such a good fit for trendy polymer clay bracelets.
Here are some ways to locate galleries that are likely to be interested in your work:
1) Check your phone book’s yellow pages for galleries in your town and in other towns near you. If they’re close enough, visit likely prospects to scope them out before making any appointments to show them your work.
2) Look in the classified ads of art magazines for gallery advertisements. Some art magazines also publish annual listings of galleries.
3) When your friends and family travel, ask them to be on the lookout for galleries that seem compatible with your style of jewelry. Your loved ones are usually happy to step into a likely gallery and pick up a business card for you to follow up on.
4) Do some Internet searches for galleries that pertain to your style of jewelry. For more accurate search results, try using quotes in your search terms – for example,
“gallery” + “glass art” .
Study these galleries’ online presence and see whether they feel like places that are right for your work. Bookmark at least a dozen, and see if their sites state their preferred procedure for artists to submit their work.
5) To show your work to galleries within driving distance, call first and set an appointment with the person in charge of accepting new work. If they say they’re not accepting anything new at this time, thank them politely and move on to the next likely prospect.
6) For galleries farther afield, you can send a brief email to the gallery owner, introducing yourself and stating why you think your jewelry fits well with their gallery. Include a link to your website so they can peruse your work at their convenience. If you don’t hear back from them in two weeks, call the owner to follow up.
Find Out More About Your Top Gallery Choices
Investigate your top gallery choices a little deeper. You want to make sure they have a good marketing plan, and that the pieces in their shop do sell at a reasonable speed. When talking to a gallery owner about carrying your jewelry, here are some things to find out:
1) What what kind of advertising do they do? What special events do they host, and what promotional mailings do they send to their customers?
2) Will they give you the names of a few of their other artists you can call or email to find out their experiences with this gallery?
3) Does the gallery buy artists’ work on a wholesale basis, or accept it on consignment? And if it’s on consignment, what percentage of the retail sale price does the gallery pay the artist?
4) How often does the gallery send out payments to the artists?
5) Will they have special promotions or exhibitions of your work?
6) Is the gallery staff well educated in the art of the artists represented there? It’s the salespeople’s job to sell both the artist and the art to customers.
How to Maintain a Good Relationship with a Gallery
Once a gallery is carrying your work, you’ll need to do your best to build and maintain a good relationship with the owner and staff. Here are some things to consider:
1) Promote the gallery as much as you can. Post their name and contact info on your website as a location where your jewelry can be purchased. When you do shows, have flyers available listing all the shops and galleries that carry your work.
2) Never undercut the gallery’s prices on your work. If they’re selling one of your bracelets for $150, that’s what you should be charging for the same piece. When a gallery finds out you’re underselling them, they usually stop carrying your work.
3) Always make an appointment before showing up at a gallery. Whether you’re visiting for the first time to show your work, or coming to discuss ongoing business, be sure to demonstrate respect for the time of the gallery owner and staff.
4) Don’t plan to clean out your inventory from a gallery when you do a show, and then return the unsold pieces back to the gallery. That creates headaches, extra paperwork, and empty shelf space for the gallery owner.
5) Make yourself available to participate in any of the gallery’s promotional events you can attend. Be supportive of all their advertising and publicity efforts, and help out wherever you can.
Establishing a good relationship with a gallery that fits with your jewelry is a great step for your business. Good luck, and enjoy selling your jewelry through art galleries!
